1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a user interface technology making use of a touch panel for promptly searching a target image from, for example, a lot of images.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, since the capacity of semiconductor memories is increased and the cost thereof is reduced, semiconductor memories having a large capacity are used even in mobile equipment such as PDAs (personal digital assistants), digital cameras, and the like. Accordingly, since the number of images that can be recorded in a single recording medium is more and more increased, there is required a search method of searching a target image from a lot of images recorded in a recording medium by a simple manipulation in a short time.
Among this type of search methods, a most popular method is a method of displaying a plurality of index images at a time and sequentially forwarding the images by an XY operation key and the like. Further, as a method of forwarding images other than the above method, there is a method of using a jog dial. Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 11-231989 and the like, for example, propose a method of providing a jog dial on a surface confronting an LCD (liquid crystal display) mounting surface on the circumferential wall of a main body and rotating the jog dial to thereby sequentially switching the image displayed on the LCD.
In contract, in desktop electronic equipment, a touch panel (sometimes referred to as a touch screen) is widely used as a device for receiving an input from a user. Since the touch panel requires a certain extent of a manipulation area, it is not suitable for mobile equipment having a small screen. Recently, however, since a large-size LCD can be mounted on also the mobile equipment, in addition to that the cost of LCDs is reduced, the environment surrounding the touch panel is being changed to the environment in which the touch panel can be easily used.
A touch motion as if a button is depressed is well known as a method of manipulating the touch panel. In addition to the above method, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2004-104594 and the like, for example, propose a method of executing a slide motion so as to draw a straight line on the surface of a touch panel and changing a reproduction speed of an image according to the direction in which the surface is traced by the slide motion and to the speed of the slide motion.